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Alexandra Brand
Sergeant Alexandra "Alex" Brand was one of the few female Gears serving in a frontline role in the post-Emergence Day Coalition of Ordered Governments army. She had been part of Chairman Richard Prescotts birthing program to boost the human population, but was unable to bear children, thus forcing her to take a combat role. She was assigned to Foxtrot four months after the Lightmass Offensive, and was reassigned to Delta-One on their reconnaissance of Jilane, since she was from the breeding farms located there. Alex later fought in several battles during the Lambent Pandemic. Biography Living on the Farms Alex was born in the city of Jilane in the country of Tyrus. After Emergence Day, Alex, like many other women, was sent to the breeding farms in Jilane to produce more children for the Coalition of Ordered Governments to maintain the war effort. Her earliest memories were of people talking about making babies, and how the women who had the most children were treated like princesses. At the age of twelve, she was raped several times by the facility's Warden. After this, she began working out in order to try and be able to fight off future attempts. At the age of fourteen, the staff of the facility tried to artificially inseminate her so she would produce offspring. Alex attempted to resist, but two men overpowered her and strapped her down to a table for the operation. The attempts failed, and they attempted to impregnate her with more traditional methods, allowing the most decorated Gears to have their way with her. At the age of eighteen, she was declared barren and sent to boot camp to become a frontline Gear in the COG army. Alex attempted to tell people about what was going on in Jilane, but people either did not listen to her or did not care. When she learned that Jilane had been overun by the Locust, she cried, and was unsure if it was from grief over the women who had died or happiness that the farm was gone.Gears of War: Barren Issue One Assigned to Foxtrot Alex quickly rose through the ranks, and became a Sergeant in Foxtrot. When one of her squadmates called her "foxy", he woke up with a dead Heart Leech bleeding on his chest. Four months after the Lightmass Offensive, Alex was partnered with Gus during an urban operations battle against the Locust, working with Delta-One to clear the area. After clearing an area of Locust and destroying an Emergence Hole, they moved on to 6th and LaCroix street. Delta-One was ambushed by Locust where Foxtrot had destroyed the E-Hole, and contracted Foxtrot for assistance after they became pinned down by snipers. Alex and Gus rushed back to help, but were unable to reach the snipers because of Tickers, and they did not have any granades to throw into the sniper nest. Alex decided to climb on top of rubble next to the building the snipers were in, and jumped across as Gus yelled at her to come back. She blew up the Tickers, causing a chain reaction that blew up the sniper nest. As she came down from the building, Gus introduced Alex to the members of Delta, who were surprised to discover she was a women when she took off her helmet and asked for a ride home. Mission to Jilane Reassigned to Delta After the battle, Foxtrot and Delta returned to base. Alex was called into a briefing with Delta-One, and two members of Sigma-One, Cpl.Damon Baird and Pvt.Augustus Cole. They were briefed by Col.Victor Hoffman and Lt.Anya Stroud about a distress signal that had been detected coming from Jilane. Since the COG had lost the city months ago and there were no COG forces in the area, they had decided to send Delta to investigate, with Baird and Cole joining them to increase the missions firepower, and Alex to use her native knowledge and scouting skills to help them. Since it was his squad, Sgt.Marcus Fenix was placed in overall command of the mission despite being the same rank as Alex, much to Hoffman's regret. Alex told him that she was sure Marcus would live up to his reputation, but Hoffman told her that that was what he was afraid of. As the Gears prepared for the mission, Alex walked up behind Cole as he talked about wooing her, to the amusement of the other Gears. She yelled "incoming" right behind him, causing him to panic and drop his beer, which Alex caught and thanked him for. As the squad packed up their Armadillo, Alex saw Dom looking at a picture of his wife, and heard him talking with Cole about maybe finding her in Jilane. She wished him luck in finding her, but told him she would be better off with the Locust than in Jilane. She then told the Gears what had happened to her and the others in the farms. She then got into an argument with Marcus, saying that since he had so many medals, the COG must have let him go to the farms. When he denied this, she called him a liar and a bastard, but he told her that while he may be a bastard, he was not a liar, and had never been to the farms. Returning to "Hell" The Gears arrived in Jilane, and began their search for the beacon at the Farm. Alex went with Marcus and Baird, while Dom, Jace, and Cole searched another part of the facility. They began their search in the wards, discovering a large number of corpses. As she looked at the machines where the babies were kept, Alex wondered what kind of children would come from such an upbringing, one in which they were not raised to love. As they moved through the building, they were surprised when a group of women cornered them. When Baird saw they were pointing their guns at them he raised his, and insulted the women, starting a firefight. Marcus told him not to fire, and Alex and him attempted to get the women to stop shooting, telling them that they were there to help them. The women’s leader ordered them to hand over their weapons and surrender, and Marcus ordered them to do it. However, the rest of Delta-One arrived, rescuing them, and Alex and the others retrieved their guns. Baird wondered when Marcus had called for backup, but Marcus told him they had heard the gunfire. Alex commented that Baird needed to learn a few lessons in how to back people up, and he sarcastically responded that he would be willing to back her up anytime. Marcus discovered that the women were not the ones who had set off the beacon, and did not even want COG help. Matron then explained that after the fall of Jilane, the women who survived cared for the children who were still alive, and avoided the Locust. Alex then came up to Matron and asked if she even remembered her, and a shocked Matron recognized her. Alex revealed that it had been Matron who sent Alex to become a soldier after she was declared barren. Marcus reported to Anya that they had located survivors, but they were not the ones who had set off the beacon. He then took Baird and Cole to find the beacons source, while Alex, Dom, and Jace stayed with the GBL. Alex then talked with Annalisa, who asked her what it was like to be around the "rapists", and how she could stand being in the COG. Alex responded that survival was more important, and that when the war was over she would be more judgmental.Gears of War: Barren Issue Two Locust Attack Alex monitored the area for seismic activity, and when she detected some, told the GBL to get their people into the emergency bunker. As they headed towards it, Marcus contacted them and told them that their signal was being jammed, and that he, Cole, and Baird could not locate the bunker. Alex was worried about how they would survive, but Annalisa said that it did not matter, and to leave them behind. Alex refused to, and told Annalisa to follow her. She contacted Marcus and told him to describe his surroundings, and had Annalisa figure out that they were in the GBL's greenhouse. They fought their way to them, and saved them from being overrun by the Locust. Alex and the others then headed back towards the bunker, meeting with Jace, Dom, and Thecelia on the way.Gears of War: Barren Issue Three They all made it into the bunker, except for Marcus, who got hit in the face by a Mauler and was knocked unconscious. As Baird took charge of the squad, Alex asked Cole if Baird had time in grade over Dom. He told her he did not, but that Dom was not the leading type, and that Marcus always expected Baird to take over if something happened to him. He pointed out that Alex was a Sergeant and could take over, but Alex decided to let Baird take charge of the squad, since he knew the others better than she did. He ordered her to plant grenades on proximity fuses around the door, so that they could open it when they needed to and kill a lot of Locust. They would then move around the escape tunnels to get the drop on the Kantus leading the attack. Alex told him that the tunnels were tight, and that they would need to take off their armor to move around in them. She then began planting the grenades around the room. After Baird put a loop of the children screaming for help on speakers around the facility to distract the Locust, Alex complimented him on his quick thinking. She then went with him and Annalisia to kill the Kantus leader, waiting for it to become distracted while healing a Drone to kill it. They then regrouped with the rest of the Gears and the GBL after getting Marcus. When the Gears and GBL began to argue again about them being forced to come back, Alex told them they would be safer with the COG. However, their argument was cut short and the evacuation plan was scrapped when Alex saw Locust reinforcements, including Corpsers and Reavers, arrive, and she told the others.Gears of War: Barren Issue Four Escape From Jilane Once Matron told Marcus where several vans were, the Gears and the GBL headed to retrieve them and escape Jilane. Alex told Jace that she would ride in the back of his van, but instead stayed behind to try and convince Matron and Annalisa to try and escape before they set off a bomb to kill the Locust and cover the escape. They refused, but Baird arrived, having also stayed behind and tried to convince them to go as well. Annalisa hit him and put a gun to his head, and Alex told her to drop the weapon or she would shoot. She refused, believing that Alex would not shoot her over putting a gun to a man's head, but Alex did, hitting her in the shoulder. Baird took Annalisa to a van, and Alex tried one last time to convince Matron to come with them, but she refused again. Alex told her that despite what she had done to Alex as a kid, she had saved the ones that had been with the GBL, and that she had done a good job. She then ran to the van and got into the driver’s seat, while Baird tried to get Annalisa inside. Alex threatened to shoot her again if she did not calm down. She began driving as Matron set off the bomb, and was able to outrun the explosion, joining up with the rest of the vans. After they made it back to Jacinto, Baird offered Alex his thanks for saving his life, and she accepted.Gears of War: Barren Issue Five Meeting with Jace at the Rusty Nail One week later, Alex met with Jace at The Rusty Nail in the Steel District of Jacinto City. She had the bartender, Joey, bring them two bears and put them on her tab. She inquired about how his visit to the orphanage he had grown up in had gone, and about how a girl he had rescued, Lily, was doing. Jace told her that Lily was doing fine considering her situation, but that her mom was still in a coma. Alex then asked Jace how his left ear had gotten half of it blown off, and he told her a Torque Bow had almost killed him. She encouraged him to tell the whole story, and he told her about Operation: Midnight. Once he finished, he told Alex it was her turn to share, and she told Jace that if he bought the next round, she would share a story.Gears of War: Midnight Lambent Pandemic Preparing for Patrol Over a year later, the COG had relocated to the island of Vectes after having been forced to sink Jacinto City. However, they began encountering Lambent creatures around the ocean, and Lambent Stalks began emerging on the island. Alex was selected to go on patrol with Anya, Sgt.Bernadette Mataki, and Pvt.Samantha Byrne to look for some livestock that had gone missing during a recent Lambent incursion at Edlar Farm. She joined Sam in loading a Packhorse with supplies for the patrol while waiting for Bernie to arrive. After she did, the four of them got into the Packhorse and beginning heading out of Vectes Naval Base. Bernie told them all that they were looking for several cows and two dogs, and jokingly asked if everyone knew what a cow looked like. Alex told her that she thought she did, and said she hoped to get a steak out of the patrol.Gears of War: Coalition's End pg 235-236 They stopped outside of the Gorasni camp first, and Alex smoked a cigar while sitting on the hood of the Packhorse while Bernie tethered a cow to a post to serve as an early warning system for Stalk incursions. When Alex saw Baird and Cole talking with Bernie, she waved at them and flipped Baird off, causing him to moon her in return, not realizing that Sam and Anya were in the Packhorse. The three of them laughed at Baird, and after Bernie was finished, they set off in the Packhorse towards an area south of the Edlar Farm.Gears of War: Coalition's End pg 255-256 Looking for Livestock Alex watched as Bernie's dog Mac began sniffing around for a trail to follow, and asked Bernie what he was looking for. She told him Mac was trying to find fresh shit, and Alex told her that if he rolled around in it, she would not be letting him into the Packhorse again. Alex remarked that she had heard Bernie had a ranch, and that it must have been a nice place and hard to leave, but Bernie told her it was easier than she thought. As Alex took out her cigar and moved to light it, Bernie reached out and took it from her mouth, telling her to save it until after the patrol, because she needed to smell in order to track, and that she hated seeing anyone smoke in uniform. Alex was surprised by this, but put her cigar away to smoke later. Mac picked up a trail and they began to follow it, but they were contacted by Baird and informed that the bull they were tracking had turned Lambent, and that someone had been killed. Alex listened as Bernie informed Anya about the situation, and that they needed to hunt down the cows and make sure they had not turned as well. Alex asked her who had been killed, worrying that it had been Cole, but Bernie told her it was a Gorasni named Borusc Eugen, a friend of Baird's. Alex was surprised Baird had friends besides Cole, and remarked that it must be true that Bernie was friends with him. Bernie told her that she judged Baird by what he did and not what he said, and to leave him alone. Alex told her that was not a problem, and that Bernie was apparantly more tolerant of dumb animals than she was. They joined up with Anya and Sam, and Mac led them to a hill near a stream, and they spotted several sheep and a cow grazing. Alex hoped the sheep were not Lambent because that would be a strange way to die, but Bernie told her that nobody was going to die, and she headed down to get a closer look at the animals. Another cow came running out of the woods, and all of the animals scattered, with the two cows heading for Bernie. She shot both on instinct and Alex and the others began running to help her, but neither cow detonated. They realized they were not Lambent, and wondered what had spooked them. They then noticed Mac barking, and Anya yelled out that Stalks were coming. Alex got her Lancer out and began looking around, telling Anya that she could not feel any tremors. Mac sprinted over to a spot on the ground and began pawing at it, and Anya ordered everyone to spread out and kill whatever emerged.Gears of War: Coalition's End pg 264-269 Battle in the Meadow As they sighted up, Bernie asked Alex if she had killed Polyps before. Alex asked her if she needed a permit to kill them, and Bernie told her to treat them like tickers, but worse. The ground then split open and a stalk emerged, shooting four meters up into the air, with pulsing blisters on the sides. They waited for Polyps to follow from the ground, but none came, and the blisters began to split open and fluid sprayed out. Alex asked if that was normal, and Sam told her that they had never seen that happen before. Something was shot of one of the blisters, and they watched it stand up on four legs, and they realized it was a Lambent dog. It charged at them, and Bernie shot it, causing it to explode, but the other blisters opened up and dozens of more dogs began to emerge and charge at them. They opened fire, cutting them down and sending debris from them everywhere. After several minutes they stopped coming, and Alex began looking through the grass at the Lambent dogs remains. She picked up some charred tissue, and told the others that they needed to find a recognizable dog part, otherwise nobody was going to believe them. Bernie agreed, but Anya wanted to call in a King Raven to look and ordered everyone back to the Packhorse. Alex told her she was still looking and to wait one, but Bernie had a better idea, telling Mac to find a recognizable piece of dog. As he shot off, Alex remarked that dogs could only do that in movies, and Bernie remarked that she must have never had a dog before. Mac returned with a hind leg from one of the dogs, and Alex and the others got back into the Packhorse and returned to VNB.Gears of War: Coalition's End pg 269-272 Prescott's Departure Several days later, Chairman Richard Prescott abandoned the COG, leaving in a small boat with his two close protection Gears. As news of this spread, Hoffman summoned all NCO's to a meeting, and Alex went to attend. When Hoffman entered the room, Alex told him that they had heard, and informed him that Baird wanted his office. Baird said he needed a workshop that did not flush. Hoffman told them that he, Captain Quentin Michaelson, and Commander Miran Trescu would take over command of the COG, but no new Chairman would be installed until elections were held again. He told them to handle the civilians with care, since they liked Prescott, and dismissed them.Gears of War: Coalition's End pg 344-346 Personality and Traits Alex was an extremely strong-willed and able Gear. Despite the experiences she had gone through at the Birthing Creche at Jilane, she was untrumatized. One of her most defining traits was her extreme loyalty to her fellow Gears, refusing to ever abandon them. This even extended to Baird, whom she did not get along well with, even to the point of her shooting Annalisa, one of the women whom she had been in the Birthing Creche with, to save him. Alex smoked cigars, and sometimes even smoked them during battle. She had a tattoo of a bird in the middle of a circle with some of its skeleton showing on her right arm. Notable quotes Behind the Scenes *The title of the Barren story arc may be a reference to Alex's inability to bear children.Gears of War: Barren *Alex was "created" by comic legend Jim Lee.Gears of War Official Site *Alex will appear as a Pre order bonus as an exclusive multiplayer character for Gears of War: Judgment.http://epicgames.com/community/2012/11/gears-of-war-judgment-available-for-pre-order/ References Category:COG Category:Characters Category:Gear Soldier Category:Females Category:Tyran